Central Saint Martins 2026 M.A. Show Presents 23 of the Program's Emerging Visionaries
See the final collections from CSM’s M.A. designers, including prize winner Finnerty Mackay, who spoke to Hypebeast backstage.
London’s renowned design school, Central Saint Martins (CSM), has produced some of the most influential designers in the industry, from legends like Lee Alexander McQueen and John Galliano to contemporary names like Grace Wales Bonner and Sarah Burton. Every year, the global industry turns its attention to the CSM M.A. show at London Fashion Week for a glimpse into the minds of fashion’s future.
Last week, CSM sent the thesis collections of 23 M.A. students down the runway, giving its audience a live supercut of the meticulous craftsmanship and creative ingenuity that its participating designers have put into their projects.
In this year’s show, CSM said, “the collective mood this year is one not obsessed with polish, but instead leans into a point of view that is actively, openly in flux,” in an official statement. “There’s a renewed focus on craft, hand-making, and reading as ways to navigate an industry increasingly anxious about its own position. How do making and meaning collide?”
The two winners of the annual L’Oréal award, Maxina Brewer and Ennis Finnerty Mackay, certainly show that their creations are imbued not only with artful expression but also profound meaning. Speaking to Hypebeast backstage, Finnerty Mackay talked through the themes that inspired his collection.
“I was really interested in looking at addiction as a topic, and looking at it as a sociological inference we all have as human beings. We are all hardwired in our nature to experience some sort of addiction in our lifetime.” The collection is filtered through the four key stages identified by the designer: control, euphoria, hysteria, and melancholy. Corsetry expresses control, latex expresses euphoria, and wool hand-dotted with liquid latex subtly evokes the “grippy socks” of recovery institutions.
“Euphoria” is also a word that Maxina Brewer used to describe her collection to the L’Oreal prize judge, Sophia Neophitou, editor-in-chief of 10 Magazine. Brewer’s sculptural construction and otherworldly silhouettes express the duality of bodily expression, driven by the contrast between euphoria and “dysphoria.” Known for her alien-like specs made of upcycled lenses—already worn by FKA Twigs—Brewer applies the leftover material in embellishments across the collection, layering them like scales.
View this post on Instagram
Adaptive reuse is a common theme throughout. “I found it really interesting trying to push my materiality as far as I can, and latex acts like nothing else,” Finnerty Mackay said. In addition to using liquid latex, the designer shared, “the other side was using unused condoms, which had expired, and upcycling them into a new textile, reclaiming their worth within the queer community.”
In terms of what he would like to see more of in the industry, the designer shared: “I would like to see more honesty, especially in social media. I think a lot of people hold things up to a standard that isn’t achievable by many, either financially or geographically. Many have these barriers, and social media can bridge that, but it creates an expectation that if you’re not working at that level, you’re not good. I really think it can be quite detrimental.”
Crossing barriers and challenging gatekeepers is a familiar sentiment among young designers, and the theme makes its presence known aesthetically as well. Another standout collection came from Tito Crichton Stuart, titled “American Sissy,” which reinterpreted American prep codes with a hyperfeminine touch.
Elsewhere, Gemma Dolan, recipient of The Alexander McQueen Scholarship, presented “FEMALE SOPHISTICATION,” which aimed to challenge minimalism’s connotations of masculinity and rationality, by proxy. Instead, the loud prints, colors, and textures challenge the superiority of minimalism, creating “a space for the unapologetic fullness of contemporary womanhood.”
For CSM’s standout designers, the question is often what comes after school. However, as many designers say, the learning doesn’t stop when you leave the university halls. “I’ve got so much to learn, and I really want to find a company and a team where I feel like a small fish in a big pond, and could just soak up as much knowledge as I can, and then from there, God knows,” Finnerty Mackay said.
See the full 2026 CSM M.A. Graduate collection in the gallery above and stay tuned to Hypebeast for the latest fashion industry insights.
